PROVIDENCE – A Massachusetts-based lead contractor has agreed to pay $11 million to settle charges for dumping contaminated fill used during a 2020 highway project, Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced Wednesday.
Barletta Heavy Division Inc., based in Canton, Mass., was charged by the state in 2023 for illegally dumping contaminated fill used during the $410 million reconstruction of the Route 6-10 connector. The company faced two counts of illegal disposal of solid waste, one count of operating a solid waste management facility without a license and one count of providing a false document to a public official.
In addition, Dennis Ferreira, 62, of Holliston, Mass., a former senior employee of Barletta, has been charged with two counts of illegal disposal of solid waste, one count of operating a solid waste management facility without a license and one count of providing a false document to a public official.
Ferreira pleaded guilty in Providence County Superior Court to one count of filing a false document and received a one-year suspended sentence and one year of probation. His other charges were dismissed.
“Companies that treat our state as a dumping ground and place the health and welfare of Rhode Islanders at risk, as Barletta has here, must face real consequences for their unlawful conduct,” Neronha said. “Whether Barletta learns from this experience remains to be seen. But they have paid a heavy price for their unlawful, irresponsible and deceptive behavior, and deservedly so.”
Barletta admitted the company transported approximately 1,114 tons of known untested soil from the Pawtucket/Central Falls site and approximately 3,460 tons of contaminated stone from the Jamaica Plain site to the 6/10 project site.
Barletta also admitted that in late July 2020, state officials with DEM and the R.I. Department of Transportation asked Ferreira for an environmental certification for the transported stone, and on behalf of Barletta he provided an environmental testing report with analysis from another site, hiding the fact that the 6/10 site stone was contaminated.
Under the terms of the settlement, Barletta has also agreed to:
- Fund the attorney general’s 6/10 Children’s Fund with $10 million to be paid directly to the Rhode Island Foundation, which will administer the funds.
- Pay $750,000 in compensation for costs of investigation and prosecution to the attorney general’s office.
- Pay $250,000 in compensation for costs of investigation to the Department of Environmental Management.
“Building and sustaining healthy and strong communities is central to our work,” said David N. Cicilline, president and CEO of the R.I. Foundation. “Focusing the funding on neighborhoods where health disparities are high won’t just close gaps in access to care; the benefits will spill over into their everyday lives. Children who are healthy can concentrate on school, enjoy play and contribute to their communities, creating pathways to a brighter future.”
On Oct. 19, 2022, Barletta agreed in federal court to pay $1.5 million to settle charges that it improperly imported fill for the project and then tried to conceal the origin of the material.
When that agreement was announced, Neronha said his office opened its own investigation of potential violations, calling it “separate and independent” of the actions at the federal level.
Barletta in 2020 was told to remove 1,600 cubic yards of material it had transported to the 6-10 connector site after the state determined the fill soil had contaminants.
On Dec. 14, 2022, Ferreira pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of making a false statement in connection with a federally funded highway project. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 16.
Barletta Heavy Division did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(UPDATES throughout with detail from settlement.)
